by Mary Wakefield Buxton –
URBANNA — Do we appreciate our doctors? Yes.
My doctor, Dr. Keith Cubbage of White Stone Family Practice, told me recently he was ever on the lookout for “zebras” that might be invading my body. As a senior citizen, one does occasionally feel one’s body is somewhat like a zoo, but I had never thought about corralling any zebras. I’m so grateful Dr. Cubbage is on alert.
Doctors are so important to health that at a certain age one doesn’t even want to move away because of having to change doctors. Trading in one trusted professional for a new face would occasion having to “break someone in” to many individual needs and eccentricities. Especially the latter.
My first doctor as a young child growing up in Ohio, was a German immigrant who had escaped Nazi Germany before World War II broke out. He had a kind face topped off with snowy white hair, a stooped body covered in a dark suit and he carried a well-used black leather satchel in which he had every miracle drug and tool used in the 1940s.
Doctor Heinig was the only doctor in town who made house calls. He pulled me through measles, mumps, chicken pox and many cases of flu. He struggled with English, which made us love him even more and he seemed like a saint to his American patients. He advised eat chicken noodle soup when you have a cold.
Then came Dr. Wright in San Diego who cared for me during my delivery of our daughter, Liz. I had walked in to see him in spike, pointed toe high heels. He recommended that I change to low heels and save my feet and knees for the rest of my life. And quit smoking.
Almost everyone smoked in those days. I followed his advice and believed I have saved myself of latter day foot and leg pain not to mention lung cancer.
My next doctor heard I was jogging every day and recommended that I change over to walking. He believed jogging would cause later life knee problems and back pain.
In Newport News I suffered a stillborn birth and heard the devastating news I could never deliver another live birth due to RH negative blood incompatibility (before the discovery of Rho GAM). The doctor handed me a brochure on adoption. I burst into tears.
Yet later I became pregnant again and sought a specialist at MCV. My son, Wake, was born six weeks early and to our joy, survived our blood incompatibility.
We moved to Urbanna and by then Dr. Robusto had taken over Dr. Van Name’s practice. He gave much good advice over the years, for example lather body lotion over your skin right after a shower to keep skin moisturized. He was an especially good diagnostician. He knew at once my sudden excruciating back pain was caused by a gallstone. Sure enough, a sonogram showed a stone the size of a lima bean at the mouth of a duct. I imagined if I stood on my head, the stone would simply fall away from the duct and spare me surgery. I was wrong.
More good advice from Dr. Cubbage. I had dyed my hair blonde thinking that blondes have more fun than brunettes. (They do, too, as my real life experiment proved.) After 20 years, my hair started to thin. The doctor told me to “go natural,” which I have done (and I’m still having fun.)
My doctors have gotten me on statins to control cholesterol, medication to lower blood pressure, off estrogen and doubled my vitamin D doses. They see to it I get my annual flu and COVID-19 shots on time and they check blood every six months looking for those devil zebras. They recommend that I watch carbs, sugar and alcohol intake and stay on my “only one cookie a day diet.” All this service is financed by our lifetime monthly Medicare contributions and Tricare insurance provided to us for our 20 years service in the Navy.
Dentists have also given me good advice over the years. I had early fluoride treatments and followed their advice to “floss every day,” and changed over to the Oral B soft toothbrushes that massage gums but now use an electric toothbrush. My dentist told me never allow plaque to stay on teeth and take care of your teeth as if they were diamonds.
My dermatologist recommends staying out of the sun. This advice coming after much childhood damage to “sun shy skin” at a time we didn’t realize sun caused skin cancer. I suffer the usual “zaps” to eliminate pre-cancerous growths.
American health teams are the best in the world. “Shock your Doc” this week and give him a big hug for all the good they do to keep all our zebras at bay.
© 2022
